Ariel's Tempest
by MirandaOfMilan
Summary: How has Ariel experienced the tempest? Why did he come to the island before Sycorax arrived? What did he do after Prospero had left?
1. Alone

_Hello. This is the tempest from Ariel's point of view, wiht a prequel and a possible sequel. Enjoy reading it and please leave a review._

**1. Alone**

My name is Ariel, and I am alone.

Below me is the sea, above me is the sky. Both is endless. If Something is endless, is it alone, too? I do not know. I do not even know why I call the sea sea and the sky sky. Someone has to have told me these words, but nobody is here. Syk and sea are my limits. The sky is unreachable far away, whereagainst the sea is much too close. The surface of the water is a single entity. I can make it move, I can cause big or small waves, but I can not break through it. It is an insurmountable obstacle, the only obstacle I know. Just like the sky, that is illimitable far high, so is the sea illimitable deep. No matter how far I push the water aside, I do never see anything but more water. Or do I? Sometimes I think I could observe movements, by very tiny animals. But my senses play a joke on me, I am afraid. Most probably I will never get to know if they do so. Relating to the sky, I am aware of inhabitants. Very often I can see clouds in grey or white. They seem to be small stains on the blue sky, than again, the blue completely disappears behind the clouds. As I can move the water, I can move the clouds. They even split when I want them to. And the sun shines from the sky, at night there are stars and the moon instead. In daylight, I can often watch birds fly across the sky. But they are not so intereresting, in fact they are quiet the opposite of myself. They communicate through exotic-sounding melodies I can not understand. It seems to me that I will stay alone forever.

Once more I make the waves break high above me and let myself be pusched away only in the last moment before they reunite with the sea. But this time, something is different. I can clearly see colorfull fishes. The water becomes more clear and I can see the ground. Soft sand breaks through the water, forms some waves himself. Grass grows on it, and trees throw their shadows upon it. I can even have a closer look at the birds now, while they are sitting on branches. They eat and sleep, insects built their nests, a wild cat hunts a rabbit. I can not believe it, I have found an island! Now, I notice some changes. The leaves become red and fall down from the trees, But some buds grow, and make the branches bloom. Afterwards, the green leaves return. It is a never-ending cycle. The animals have a life cycle, too. No, but many cycles: They eat ore are eaten, live ore die, new animals are born, but their number stays constant. It is perfect. Sleeping and drinking are other fundamental needs, but not one of them is important for me. How can I live then, can it even be called living? Have I been born, will I die? Where do I come from? Everything makes me different from wat I see here, but still I am a part of it.

Every living creature needs the air to breath. Oxygen or carbon, who consumes something produces something else. The air is the link between animals and plants, and that is important for me.

My name is Ariel, and I am an airy spirit.


	2. Feelings of a father

_I want to thank Arkham House for the very first review of this story. This chapter is for you._

**2. Feelings of a father**

I do not often leave the island that showed me who I am. But now I see something strange on the sea, a dark spot near the horizon. Couryously, I make it fleet nearer to the beach. Only a peace of wood, isn't it? No. A woman is sitting on it, crying. She is all alone, just like me. Maybe she wants to talk? But then it might help if she could see me. So, I try to take a shape. Two legs, arms, a round head. It works. But I do not make my stomach as big as hers, instead I make myself seem more like a man. When my reflection on the water looks just like I want, I return to the beach, that the woman has already reached. She stands up, leans her upper body back and presses her hands on her back. Then she sees me.

„Who are you?" She sounds nervous and breathes very loud.

„My name is Ariel, and I am an airy spirit. Can I help you?"

„A cave, show mew a cave, spirit." the stranger gasps. She seems to be in a hurry, so I guide her through the meadows to a cave as fast as possible. Then she asks me to bring her some water, she nearly shouts. I fly to the next spring and lace a basket out of leaves and withes. When the sun rises she tells me to leave, and soon I hear the cries of a baby. I give her some more time, then I enter the cave. It would be a breathtaking sight if I had to breath.

„Be calm, little Caliban, Mommy is here." Her voice sounds more relaxed now, and she smiles at her son, who lies in her arms with closed eyes. And I have helped to let him be born at a save place, what makes me happy and pride. Sadly, this happienes vanishes soon.

„Spirit, it's cold. Bring me dry wood!"

I do as she said, and make a fire burn near the cave's entrance, so that the smoke stays far away from mother and child. She does not ewven realise it, she sings a lullaby about Little-Caliban and Sycorax. So, that is her name, I guess. When I made sure that they both sleep well, I rest, was an exhausting, but exciting day. And that's the difference from later days, which are only exhausting. Sycorax had never thanked me for anything, although I do whatever she asks me. She is not even nice to Caliban any longer, but he has a problem with his right eye. She says he sqints. And for her, I am still 'the spirit' for her, and she only talks to me when she gives me a new command. I even have to call her mistress. 'Yes mistress', 'as you wish, mistress', 'straightaway, mistress'.

Some things I have learned about her past, but only because she talks to Caliban about them. She grew up in Algier, a far away country. So, there is more than the island in the ocean. She often talks about how she had improved society. As the beloved of the king, she had always heard when someone had commited a crime. When she was a victim of these crimes, higher prices for her dresses for example, then she – she did things to the that I don't want to name. Poor Caliban. If he already understands what Sycorax says, then he won't get this pictures out of his head for life. Anyway, the king did realise what she did and wanted to kill her.

„He never loved me, he only used me, right from the beginning. Well, it was pure luck that his thoughtlessness saved my life. When he found out I was pregnant, he did not dare to kill me. Instead, he banned me to this island. And he is not even your father! I am not sure whose son you are, but you are definetly no prince."

The more I hear, the less I like Sycorax. It even gets worse when she continues.

„But, when I think about it, maybe it would have been better for me to die. Then I would not be stuck on this island in the middle of nowhere, with nobody but a crying cripple and some shaped air."

Shaped air? That is enough! I always do what she wants, and it was my idea to take a shape at all. And why does she call her own son names? If she doesn't want him, I would be glad to care for him more. Unfortunately, I can not tell her, she doesn't want me to listen to her 'private talk'. But how shall I then appeare as soon as she calls me? To do something for Caliban at least, I make the fire burn warmer, and when Sycorax starts sleeping, I enter the cave and I stroke the hair out of his face.

„You earn a better mother" I whisper to him. Then I go to the woods and start collecting wood to build a bed for him. Sycorax will upbraid me for thinking she would be a bad mother. And for once, she will be right.


End file.
